Indonesia Executes 6 for Drug Offenses, Sets Off Diplomatic Storm

Indonesia has executed six people — including five foreign nationals — for drug offenses, setting off a diplomatic storm.

Brazil and the Netherlands, whose citizens were among those executed, condemned the killings, and recalled their ambassadors to Indonesia for consultations in response.

The executions, carried out by firing squad shortly after midnight Sunday local time, were the first under Indonesia’s new president Joko Widodo.

Citizens of Malawi, Nigeria and Vietnam were also executed, along with an Indonesian woman, officials said.

Brazi’s President Dilma Rousseff issued a statement expressing indignation at the execution of Brazilian Marco Archer Cardoso Moreira, saying the incident “severely affected” relations between the two countries. She also offered sympathies to Moreira’s family.

Rousseff “deeply regret(ted)” that her personal appeals for clemency, including one made via telephone, had been ignored by Widodo in proceeding with the execution, said the statement.